Europe Plunges into War

1
Europe Plunges into War

• 29.2

2
Great War Begins

• Russias mobilizes around Austrian border
• Support Serbs
• Germany sees this as a declaration of war
• Germany declares war on Russia
• Germany declares war on Russias ally France
• GB (Rus. and Fr. Ally) declares war on Germany
• Central Powers Germany and Aust.-Hung
• Bulgaria and Ottoman Empire join to regain land
• Allies GB, France, Russia
• Italy joins

3
THE SCHLIEFFEN PLAN

• The signing of the Franco-Russian Alliance in
  1892 gave Germany cause to fear an attack on two
  fronts.
• Designed Alfred von Schlieffen
• Why? Avoid a two-front war against France in the
  west and Russia in the east
• To eliminate France as an ally of Russia during a
  war with Germany
• The key to plan
• France had to be defeated quickly so that Russia
  and Britain would be unwilling to continue.

4
Schlieffen Plan What Happened?

• German advance was held up by the Belgians
• Russians mobilized in just 10 days, not six weeks
• More troops had to be diverted from the attack on
  France to defend the eastern border (near Russia)
• Britain entered the war on France's side due to
  an agreement with Belgium to defend her against
  German attack
• British Forces reached France and Belgium far
  quicker than expected
• The result
• German troops dig in to defensive positions
• Create a chain of trenches from Switzerland to
  the North Sea
• Military stalemate that was to last for nearly
  four years.

5
TRENCH WARFARE

• Warring armies dug into a system of trenches
  stretching from Switzerland to the English
  Channel
• Between the armies lay no mans land

6
Deadly Technology

• Man never faced weapons like this before
• Machine guns
• Poison Gas
• Submarines
• Tanks
• Results
• Lingering warfare
• Mass casualties

7
Eastern Front

• E.F. area between Germany and its eastern
  neighbor Russia
• Russians and Serbs vs. Germans and AHs
• Germany defeats Russian forces
• AHs eventually defeat Russia
• Russia near collapse
• No industrialization
• Few guns, ammo, resources
• Provisions cut off by Germans (Baltic Sea) and
  Ottomans (Mediterranean and Black Seas)
• Only asset population
• Result of Russians participation
• Germany could not concentrate on its Western Front